It is time to accept the fact that we need a new school building in Tisbury.

As a parent of two sons who graduated from the Tisbury School, I recognize that the time has come to step up and replace this building that no longer meets the needs of Tisbury students. It may be nostalgic but the most important thing is for a school building to provide function. Museums and such can be renovated to maintain their historical value, but a school must be able to meet the needs of its 21st century students. The Tisbury School has served its life and we have learned that the cost to remodel, which would only salvage 35 per cent of the current building, would be much higher than the plan to rebuild. My sons have vivid memories of their classrooms leaking, the warped floors that they would trip over, loud noises from the furnace that would disrupt their lessons and concentration during exams. State and federal curriculum mandates that students have opportunities to plan and learn in groups and utilize technology. The world is forever changing and to think education does not need to evolve would be putting our communities children at risk. They deserve to receive the required quality education that our wonderful teachers and staff at Tisbury struggle to deliver with the limitations of this old building. I no longer have children in this school but as a preschool educator and taxpayer in the town of Tisbury, I wholeheartedly support the building of a new school for our community’s future. Yes, our taxes will go up but I believe that if we invest in our children’s future, we will reap the benefits in the long run. The current and future children of Tisbury deserve this. The townspeople decided back in 1929 to invest in our town’s future and now it is our turn to do the same.

Donna Creighton
Vineyard Haven